Whodunit?
by New Hampshire Badger
Summary: A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie.
1. Chapter 1

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: Although I have been reading fanfics for many, many years… this is the first I have written. Be nice and review.

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**Chapter 1**

Santana Lopez could not wait for this airplane to land. Landing meant she would finally be home. Home meant that she would finally be back with Brittany. Brittany was the love of her life, and she could not wait any longer to begin the next phase of their lives together.

That had been the whole point of her journey. Santana was a professional dancer, and she had spent the better part of the last year dancing in some of the most beautiful theaters in some of the most beautiful places in North America. She had made enough money for her and Brittany to finally realize their dream of trying to make it in New York City, but it had been absolute torture to spend so much time away from Brittany.

Brittany … just thinking about her made her so excited that not even the crying infants in Coach could not take her smile away. She thought back to how they had come all this way…

_**Six Years Earlier**_

_ Santana walk up to her dormitory wheeling a cart that seemingly contained her entire life divided up between various boxes and suitcases. She though to herself, "Well here I am. This is college." _

_ It was absolute chaos everywhere inside the building. Crying girls everywhere hugging equally teary-eyed mothers. However, Santana had made this journey alone. The distance was too far and too expensive for her to have a parental chaperone; she had already said her goodbyes. _

_ Just out of the corner of her eye she noticed a flash of yellow, and she heard the prettiest laugh to ever pass her ears. She did not quite understand why, but for some reason this shook her from her daze and occupied the entirety of her attention. But when she turned to locate the source, she was met with the brown oak of a slamming door. Disappointed, Santana took note of the name on the door. "I guess we'll meet some other time … Brittany S. Pierce." _

_ The first week of college brought with it so many welcome-type activities designed to ease the fears of the new freshmen, but Santana found the extremely tedious. It was getting ever more annoying to find a different way of introducing herself to all the talkative wide-eyed girls who had forced themselves into her company. Santana did not want to admit it but the real reason for her displeasure was that she had yet to find the mysterious Brittany, and she had been too nervous to take any action herself. _

_ That first night she was dragged to a party. Santana had never seen so many drunken people before. It was a horrible experience. It was hot, crowded, sticky, and she was pretty sure some one around her was always pissing, puking, or screaming. The only redeeming quality of that night was that she was sure she had heard Brittany's laugh, but only for a second. Santana had convinced herself that it could have been someone else, or she had just imagined it._

_ The next day, Santana woke up feeling like crap. She hardly ever got sick, but somehow a fever and congestion came on suddenly. College was already shaping up to be a huge disappointment, and now she was literally sick within the first month. _

_ She made her way to the University Health Service. After telling a nurse her symptoms she was ushered into a waiting room to rest and have tests run. She could barely keep her eyes open in the darkened room. She did not know how long she had dosed off for, but a short time later she felt a tapping on her shoulder, followed by a whispering voice._

_ "Hey uh are you okay? Are you here for the same reason as me? Have I seen you before? Why are you not answering? Are you dead? I thought we could be friends, but dead people scare me. You're too pretty to be dead!" said the voice in one breath. _

_ Santana rolled over and opened her eyes. She was met with two of the bluest eyes she had ever seen. "No, I am still alive, barely." _

_ "I'm Brittany, and I'm here because I don't feel so good."_

_ "Yet, somehow you're still SO cheerful!" Santana replied without thinking. When she was able to collect her thoughts properly it struck her that this was Brittany! She had just snapped at the girl she had been dying to see again, and here she was like fate. She added, "I'm Santana, and I'm not usually this mean to people. And I think you might be my neighbor."_

_ "Oh it's so cool to meet someone else from the dorm. I've been skipping the welcome activities because I get scared that I'd lock myself out of my room and die of boredom in the hallway." _

_ "Well, if you ever do lock yourself out you can hang out in my room with me."_

_ "Yay, high five, new friend!"_

_ Just then the doctor came in. "I see you two have found your way to each other. That's nice, I'll save time by saying this to both of you at the same time. You have H1NI or Swine Flu. It's quite contagious, so you'll have to be taken out of the dorm until you get better." This is not what Santana wanted to hear, but Brittany looked oddly calm still. "Now Santana, since you're an out of state student, and we can't put you on a plane home, you'll have to be put up in the emergency University Apartments."_

_ "Great my very own Leper Colony," Santana scoffed rolling her eyes._

_ "Brittany, you'll have to call your parents and have them pick you up and bring you back to Lima. Is that okay?"_

_ Brittany looked over at Santana with sadness visible in those two blue eyes. She turned to the doctor and said quickly, "My parents went on vacation where there aren't phones." "That's unfortunate. I'll make arrangements for the both of you then." _

_ As soon as the Doctor had left the room, Brittany turned to Santana, "Can you keep a secret? I lied to the doctor. My parents aren't on vacation. I just didn't want you to be sick and alone." Santana felt a profound warmth in her heart, and leapt off the bed to hugged her new friend. _

_ Santana and Brittany spent a week at that "Leper Colony" and they became so close it was impossible to believe they had only really met a week ago. They talked about everything from ducks to breadsticks. They learned they both shared a love of dance, which immediately led to random dancing at 3 in the morning. Their friendship thankfully outlasted the sickness and when they returned to the general student population they were inseperable. _

_ Over the next few months, friends became bffs. And on fateful night of secret telling bffs became girlfriends. Girlfriends lead to lovers, and lovers to soulmates. Santana knew that this was the real thing, and that Brittany was worth anything. _

_**Earlier This Year**_

_Shortly after Brittany and Santana had celebrated their 5__th__ Anniversary of being a couple, they heard that the famous show __Dance Explosion!__ was holding auditions for new dancers in anticipation of their North American tour. Of course they were both excited because they were sick of working 9-5 odd jobs that were bringing them no closer to realizing their New York fantasies. They trained for weeks before their auditions. When the day finally came they were met with bad news. They would have to compete directly with each other for only one remaining spot. _

_ The two forced the melancholy out of their minds and made their way onto the stage before the judges. When the music started Santana began moving to the beat with all she could muster. Deep down she had always though Brittany to be the superior dancer, and although she tried her hardest to concentrate solely on her own movements, she couldn't help but imagine Brittany dong it better beside her. _

_ Towards the end of the song Santana caught a glimpse of Brittany out of the corner of her eye. What she saw shocked her. Brittany was splayed out on the dancefloor clutching her ankle. Santana almost lost track of her movements, but was still able to finish the song without error. She rushed over to Brittany at the first opportunity, "Oh my God B, what happened? Are you okay? You never fall, ever."_

_ Brittany looked up at Santana, "I guess you'll be the one going on tour." _

_ Santana could have sworn that Brittany winked at the end of her sentence. She wondered if Brittany had fallen on purpose. However, she didn't ask; she merely hugged Brittany as hard as she did on the day they first met, and kissed her on the top of the head. _

_ Later that night, Santana got a call with all the details on how long she'd have to be away for and the rather large salary she'd be receiving. She turned to Brittany saying "I don't want to leave you for this long."_

_ "It's alright. I'll try to fly out to see you wherever you are at least once a month. Plus I'm thinking of getting a cat." _

**Present Day**

It had been a very long nine months, but Santana was finally back. She learned shortly into her tour that Brittany's high school cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester, had offered Brittany a job dancing in a Variety stage show she was starting up in Brittany's home town. Brittany had jumped at the opportunity to be around someone she knew, and since both her and Santana would be working, they'd have enough money to move to New York as soon as Santana got back.

They had not talked much about Brittany's job when they got to see each other because Brittany would always want to hear about all the places Santana had been, either that or they'd be having sex. Santana realized as she was getting off the plane that being back meant she's finally have an opportunity to see Brittany dance on in Sue's show. And this made her even more excited.

When she finally got her luggage off what felt like the slowest baggage claim in history, she practically sprinted through the arrivals gate and began searching for Brittany amongst the crowd. When she finally did find her, something was wrong. Brittany did not run to hug her, she did not wave hello, and in fact she made no physical signs of affection at all. It looked like she had been crying.

"B, what's wrong? I thought you'd be happier to see me."

"San, I know we agreed that we'd move to New York after you got back. But we can't. It's just not right."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"God no Santana. I need you now more than ever. I … We just have to stay here for awhile."

"B you're scaring me, just tell me what's wrong."

"It's Sue. She'd dead. They say she's been murdered."

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**End of Chapter 1. **

**I know there wasn't much Murder mystery stuff this chapter, but it was important to introduce Brittany and Santana, and their love before all that craziness started. Review please?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed Chapter 1. I'm going to attempt to update at least once a week, but college sometimes gets in the way of that. Right now things are crazy, so send love and prayers to Wisconsin union workers.

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**Chapter 2**

Detective Will Schuester sat down at his desk to finish out some paperwork, but he was procrastinating, so he decided he'd read the morning paper instead. He flipped through a couple pages until he came across a story that caught his eye.

_** Ohio Cheerleading Coach and Famous Philanthropist Found Murdered **___

_ Who was Sue Sylvester? Was she a mere high school cheerleading coach, or was she more than that? She certainly thought so, and would gladly inform you thusly. _

_ Sue Sylvester only began as a cheerleading coach, but thanks to key recruitment strategies and dynamite routines, she became a national champion. She used her many endorsements and prizes to give back to her community. It sometimes seemed like she hoped to break a world recorded for getting buildings named after oneself. Success led to power and influence in the community, leading many to wonder why she never ran for public office. _

_ Sue Sylvester instead returned to her first passion: entertainment. Having mastered Cheerleading, Sue decided to venture into the world of variety theatre. She called in plenty of favors to assemble a cast of performers unmatched in any place anywhere. "The Sue Sylvester Variety Stage Show" always strived for perfection and Sue Sylvester would have it no other way. _

_ The show had a unique quality to its composition. Sue demanded that all her performs move into her palatial estate, so she could keep an eye on them outside of the show. Though the uniformed masses might think of this as a type of barbaric indentured servitude, insiders disagreed. Reports say that Sue's cast of performers became akin to a real family. _

_ That is why it is shocking to have to report of Sue Sylvester's murder. Yesterday afternoon Sue Sylvester was discovered dead in her bedroom by performers and residents Kurt Hummel and Brittany Pierce. The local police have not made much of the details known, but certain sources say the Sylvester was the victim of poisoning, and only someone within the house could have had the knowledge and the opportunity to carry out such a heinous action. _

_ There is no word on what will become of Sue Sylvester's massive fortune as she had neither heirs nor living relatives, although reports say there is a last will on file with the city clerk. _

_ A memorial service will be held the day after tomorrow. Rest in Peace, Sue. __**by J.B. Israel**_

Will read about murders and crimes from other states all the time, but he dwelled on this one for some reason. Will of course had heard of Sue Sylvester, and he had even attended the stage show before at the request of an old friend.

That was it; he had seen the show because Santana had asked him. He read the article a second time and he stopped on one particular name. Brittany Pierce was the name of Santana's girlfriend. As unsettling as it was, he was thankful he had decided to procrastinate by reading the paper this morning.

Just then the phone rang. Will answered, "This is Will Schuester, who is am a speaking with?"

"Schue is Santana, and I wish I was calling with good news."

"Santana! This is about Sue and Brittany isn't it?"

"What, how did you know?" Santana replied incredulously.

"I just read it in the paper. Sue Sylvester is big news, even in this state. How's Brittany? It said that she found the body."

"I didn't know that actually. Brittany hasn't said much about it beyond telling me. There's been a lot of her crying and me comforting. Come to think of it I don't think she's formed a complete sentence since we were in the airport. I didn't know where we should go or what to do. So I called you…" Santana concluded her outpouring of emotion. She hadn't realized how being strong for Brittany had taken a lot out of her. She had needed to vent to someone.

"Santana, I will always be there for you whenever you need to talk to someone. That's what godfathers are for."

"How soon could you be in Lima? Brittany always liked you and she needs as many friendly faces around as possible." Santana didn't want to admit it, but she needed to see Will just as much.

"I'll see what I can do." Will replied. "Take care of Brittany, but also take care of yourself."

Santana hung up the phone. She returned from the bathroom to find Brittany still seated at the table in the semi-crowded diner, the food on her plate still untouched. Santana sat down and took Brittany's hand in her own. Brittany snapped out of her daze and looked into Santana's eyes. The perfect blues that always captivated Santana were now surrounded by redness and tears.

"You were gone a long time." Brittany uttered meekly.

"I was on the phone with Schue. I sort of asked him to come."

"Okay."

After that they sat in silence for a few more minutes. Brittany occasionally poked at her food, but still wouldn't eat. The silence was worrying Santana. She didn't want Brittany to start crying again, but she had to push her to talk about Sue. She decided to tread carefully. "Britt, are you going to be comfortable still staying at Sue's estate after everything that's happened?" Brittany merely nodded. "Do you want me to get a motel …"

"No! Santana I need you to stay with me; more than anything else, I need you." Brittany surprised herself with her forcefulness just then, and she surprised Santana too. Santana was happy though that Brittany was talking again.

"Okay, then I think we should head there now. I think we both could use some rest." Brittany agreed and they left the diner.

Before they had made it all the way back to the car, Brittany stopped in her tracks. She spoke up, "The police aren't going to be able to figure out who killed her."

"Why would you say that? It's there job." Santana didn't want Brittany to feel hopeless because she knew that they'd never be able to move away if this was still on Brittany's mind. There needed to be closure, and the only way was to find the killer.

"Sue was too important in this town. The police here only think they know the real Sue Sylvester, and they'd never be able to think of her as anything but a celebrity. Plus Sue sort of trained everyone in her 'family' not to trust law enforcement. No one will tell the whole story."

"Well then you have to tell them the whole story, B."

"San, I don't know the whole story. I was new girl; people had secrets and inside jokes from before I showed up. Sue was the one who always made sure I was being included. She was so good to me." Brittany had started to tear up again.

"B, I promise you, we'll find out who killed her."

Brittany looked deep into Santana's eyes. "San, that's it!"

"I don't follow."

"You have to find out who killed Sue."

"WHAT!"

"No one at the estate will talk to the police, but they will talk to you. If they grew to trust me, then they'll trust you just the same. The amount of stuff I've told them about you, they practically know you already. It'll be perfect.'

"What do I know about solving a murder? I'm a dancer, not a detective."

"San, you know all about people, and you'll have Schue, he can like help you from the outside." Brittany explained to Santana.

"Are you sure about this Brittany?"

"San you promised me they'd find who killed her, so I'll make you a promise. Solve Sue's murder, and we move away to New York and never look back."

How could Santana say no?

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**End of Chapter 2. **

**Next time we start to meet the rest of Sue's "family" (the suspects) and you'll recognize some familiar faces. Reviews are always appreciated. Oh, and VOTE for Brittana at E! Online Couples Poll. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: Thank you to those who have reviewed Chapters 1 and/or 2. I had to right a paper and attend an Oscar party. That is why this is late. Sorry.

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**Chapter 3**

Brittany and Santana approached the grounds of the Sue Sylvester Estate. Santana had never been here before; she had merely heard about it in brief snippety stories Brittany would tell her. The blonde did not do this place justice. It was breathtakingly huge. Being an entertainment entrepreneur sure had its advantages.

"God Brittany, this place is huge!"

"Is it?" Brittany replied and noticed the bug-eyed expression on Santana's face. "Well, obviously it is. But sometimes size just leads to loneliness."

"Well you'll have me by your side as long as we stay here. Okay?"

Brittany nodded. They clasped their hands together and continued on their trek up the lengthy driveway to the front door. They had finally reached the front door when Brittany stopped them before making their way inside. "I just want to make something clear Santana." Santana was now a little bit nervous. Brittany continued, "The people in this house are my friends. I love them like they were my brothers and sisters. But one of them killed Sue, and I can't look at any of them the way I used to until I have all the answers. I hate that I am asking you to basically spy on them, but there isn't any other way."

Santana felt so proud that her girlfriend trusted her enough to say all that to her. She pulled Brittany into a hug and rubbed her hair in a comforting manner. "You can count on me, Brittany."

They made their way into the house. Any hope Santana had for a discreet arrival were immediately dashed when a small, meek looking man ran up to Brittany and enveloped her in a hug. He exclaimed, "Brittany! I'm so glad you are back. In times like these we should be together." Santana noticed his voiced matched his appearance. She noticed he was wearing fashionable closes that would rival her fashion sense. While making these observations, she observed that he had let go off Brittany and was now moving to hug her! "And you too. You must be Santana. Brittany has told us some much about you."

Santana didn't want to create an awkward moment, but at Brittany's nonverbal urging Santana hugged the stranger back. "I hope she's had some discretion with what she's been telling you guys."

"Oh honey, with the amount of stuff Brittany tells me about you, I could push all your worst buttons, and maybe even some of your good ones, if I swung that way." The moment was definitely awkward now. "I'm Kurt Hummel: performer, costume designer, master gourmet, etc. But none of that is important now. To you I shall be Kurt Hummel: friend!" He completed his introduction by moving his hands in a way that made Santana think she should be imagining that name on some sort of regal marquee.

"Kurt, I think you're scaring Santana. If you don't mind I'm going to take her up to my room and help her get settled in."

With that Santana clung to Brittany's arm as they moved through the rest of the house towards Brittany's room. "No more hugs, okay Brittany."

They arrived in a long corridor and Santana noticed each door was personalized with the names of the occupants. A lot of people live in this house. This could be harder than Santana had assumed it would be. They went inside Brittany's (or now their) room and started unpacking Santana's things. Once they had finished, they just laid down on the bed holding each other.

Santana noticed after a while that Brittany had fallen asleep. Santana took this opportunity to think about her life and the situation that had been placed in front of her. How should she go about doing this? She needed everyone to trust her enough to tell her about the gritty details. Judging by what happened with Kurt, it might not be a problem. But she hadn't met the rest of the house's occupants yet. At least she'd have Brittany to help her.

Santana was snapped out of her contemplation by Brittany beginning to writhe about in her grasp. She was muttering things under her breath and she looked extremely uncomfortable.

Santana hated seeing this in Brittany. She nudged her awake. "Britt, wake up."

Brittany awoke almost immediately and was breathing heavily. "Sorry San, it was nothing … just a dream." She managed to get out between deep breaths.

"Sounded more like a nightmare to me. Sit up and tell me about it. It'll help."

Brittany complied. "It was about Sue. And it wasn't really a nightmare, it was more like a dream about a bad memory if that makes any difference."

"You were the one to find the body?"

"Yea….

...

**Two Days Ago**

_Brittany walked into the house, but it was more like a sashay or skip. She was quite happy. Who wouldn't be happy if the love of their life were coming back home after spending almost a whole year away? She attempted to quietly make her way to the stairs._

_ "Afternoon Brittany! I didn't even realize you had gone out." Brittany turned out to see Kurt staring back at her all-inquisitive. _

_ "Oh hey Kurt." Brittany attempted to change the subject: "Is Sue around? I have some news for her."_

_ "I think she's still in her room." _

_ "But it's 2 in the afternoon."_

_ "Well you know Sue, sometimes night caps turn into morning caps." Kurt was implying that Sue would be incredibly hungover. "If you want to unleash the beast, go ahead, but don't say I didn't warn you." _

_ "Well I'll be careful, don't worry." Brittany turned to leave but Kurt stopped her. _

_ "You know what, I'll make things easier for you. I am going to brew up some of Sue's coffee, and take it up with you." _

_ A couple minutes later, the pair ascended the staircase and made their way down the long corridor toward the master bedroom. When they reached their destination, Brittany casually knocked on the door. "Sue, it's Brittany and Kurt. Can we come in?" There was no answer. "Should we go in?"_

_ Kurt nodded and clutched the door handle. He looked into Brittany's eyes for reassurance. She gave him as much as she could. They opened the door and went inside. Brittany looked about the room. There was an empty glass next to the bed. The window was open. And Sue lay before them, motionless in her bed. _

_ "Sue?"_

_ "Sue, get up. I made you coffee and Brittany says she has news."_

_ But an answer never came._

_..._

….. so after that Kurt got the idea to check her pulse. That's when realized she was dead. I had never seen death up close like that Santana"

"No one should ever she death like you saw it."

"The police came and took her away. At first I thought, you know, that it could have been natural or something. Like, Sue didn't eat the healthiest, and she drank a lot. But then I was giving the cop my statement, and the guy with the fancy suitcase said that he found traces of poison in Sue's glass."

"Where would somebody find poison?"

"I don't know San, why would I know that?"

"I wasn't accusing you, I'm just talking to myself, B."

"Then they gathered us in the library and told us not the leave town. They were sure that one of us had to have done it."

"That's horrible." The more information Santana learned about this mystery, the more it made her regret ever promising Brittany she would figure it out. "That's enough talking now. It's almost dinnertime. Do you guys usually eat together, or just when you want to?"

"It's not an every day thing, but I'll suggest that we all eat together, tonight. That way you'll get to meet everyone."

"Yea, meet everyone." More like spy she thought to herself.

The couple headed down to the dinning room. "Stay here, I'll try and get everyone."

Santana sat quietly at the table and little by little people started slowly filtering into the room to join her. The first was a short, long haired brunette. She dragged behind her a tall lanky guy that looked like he wasn't very coordinated. They had been talking rather loudly in the hall, but they hushed when they saw her. "Hi, I'm Santana."

The girl responded quickly. "Oh dear, that explains that. I though for a second you were some type of evil prowler taking advantage of Sue untimely passing to steal our ornate china and silverware. Even if you were that type of person you wouldn't have gotten away with it, because even though I look small, I am extremely feisty. Right Finn?"

"What?"

"Just agree with me."

"Yes, what Rachel said." Santana figured that back and forth was a common occurrence between the two of them.

"It is so nice to finally meet the mythical Santana Lopez. Brittany is always talking about you. Sometime I think she talks about you more than she talks about herself. I, of course, am Rachel Berry. This is Finn Hudson. We are the stars of the show."

"Isn't it an ensemble?" This girl was already starting to irritate Santana.

"An ensemble of which we are the stars. Duh?"

Santana thought about pressing the two for more information, but before she could they were joined by another resident seeking dinner. This was a big, but beautiful black woman who carried with her a sassy demeanor. "Aww hell no Rachel, no one wants to hear about you. Sit down and leave the poor girl alone." Rachel was sufficiently shut up. The woman turned to Santana. "I'm Mercedes. You're lucky I had the chef prepare some tots."

The next to arrive was Kurt who she recognized from before. He made no attempts to hug her this time. He was followed by a man and a woman, both Asian. They could have been siblings or a couple; she couldn't figure it out; she'd pursue that question later. Then Brittany returned.

Whispering in Santana's ear she said, "I couldn't convince everyone, but this is a good start right?"

"There's more?"

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**END OF CHAPTER 3**

**A/N: There is in fact a few more, Ms Lopez. More on that later. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: Nothing much to say I guess… Except that It's On, It was always on; but now I'm sad.

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**Chapter 4**

Dinner was awkward. Santana would have much preferred having dinner with these people before the murder. Now, there was so much subtext in everything going on. Everything they spoke to each other about eventually lead back to Sue, and then things would get quiet. Laughter was almost instantly met with guilt. Did they have the right to be happy in times like this?

Santana tried not to pester anyone into discussing the murder; she didn't say much of anything in fact. She sat back in her chair, calmly ate her meal, occasionally gave Brittany reassuring touches, and simply listened. She tried to listen and remember as much as she could. She had no way of knowing what would be relevant later on.

It was Kurt who broke one particularly long awkward silence with an innocent question. "Since Santana has finally graced us with her presence, it got me to thinking. Did anyone else invite someone to join us for Sue's memorial?"

"Santana isn't here because of Sue," interrupted Brittany, "she came here for me. That was always the plan. She just had horrible timing." This was one of those moments when the truth sounded too convenient. "She was finally going to see me perform with you guys."

"Too bad that won't happen now," muttered Rachel.

"Who says?" Piped up Mercedes. "Why do we have to stop performing just because Sue's gone?"

Finn was now involved, "Mercedes is right. We could make it about continuing her legacy. People love that kind of thing."

"Finn! That is absolutely NOT a good idea. No one's going to want to come see a variety show associated with a horrible murder." Rachel was seriously starting to get on Santana's nerves. How could Brittany stand her; how could anybody? "Frankly, as much as I loved the time we spent together in this show. We should view Sue's death as closure. Now we can move on to bigger and better things."

"Oh" was all Finn could reply with.

Dinner continued on for slightly longer. Santana looked about the table. Relationships between individuals were becoming apparent. Kurt and Mercedes seemed to be very close. They had a shorthand in their words to each other, and every once and a while they gave each other little winks of great endearment. Rachel and Finn were not like any couple Santana had ever encountered before. In any other environment Finn had the potential to be the big man who reigned over others, but here with Rachel he acted like a shrinking violet. For lack of a better term, he was whipped. The two Asians, she so learnt were called Tina and Mike. They were not brother and sister. And despite obvious chemistry and flirting looks between them, they never openly declared themselves a couple.

Dinner came to a conclusion when Kurt suggested they all break open a bottle of wine and retire to the parlor. Santana was secretly thrilled that this idea was suggested because she was sure that alcohol would remove the awkwardness and loosen a few tongues too.

Tina spoke up for seemingly the first time that night saying, "You guys go on ahead. I'm gonna turn in. I've been feeling a little under the weather recently."

Santana was of course disappointed in losing the opportunity to extract information from the quiet girl, but she was one of the only people to catch a small addendum to Tina's exit. She saw Mike grab Tina's hand, and then he whispered in her ear. There was definitely more to those two.

Santana went into the parlor and plopped down on the sofa next to Brittany. "Hey you."

"How are you feeling? I know meeting new people can be stressful; especially these people. And especially considering … you know … what I asked you to do."

"To be honest, I can't tell if people are acting suspiciously or if that is just normal mourning behavior."

"Well, is there anything you want to know? I'll be of any help I can."

"Uh, yeah. What is the deal with Mike and Tina?"

"Santana, of all the possible questions to ask to help you solve a murder, you ask about who might be hooking up backstage?"

"What can I say? I'm curious."

"Well, there isn't much to talk about. They are very close. They're both pretty shy, which is funny because on stage they are the complete opposite. Being such close friends, becoming a couple wouldn't be unbelievable, I'm just not sure if they've taken that step, yet."

"But that step is the best part," Santana replied with a wink.

"Santana! Quit flirting with me and go mingle!"

Despite her best pout, Santana relented. She got up and attempted to engage Finn and Rachel in conversation, while Brittany went over to hang with Kurt and Mercedes by the piano.

"Santana," Rachel addressed her and pulled her closer. "Settle a dispute between the two of us. I feel as though that a moving performance of _Amazing Grace_ would be the perfect way for me to honor Sue at her memorial service, but Finn is trying to convincing me that it would be 'inappropriate.'"

"I'm not saying Sue would appreciate the spectacle. She loved spectacle. I just think that it puts to much attention on you, when it should be on her, the person who's actually dead."

Santana didn't want to aggravate the situation between the feuding lovers, so she tried to come up with an easy compromise. "Maybe just a different song?"

"You know Finn, Santana's right." Santana couldn't believe that had actually worked. Rachel continued, "_Amazing Grace_ is overdone."

"That's not exactly what I meant…"

"A much more appropriate song would be an original composition that encapsulates everything Sue stood for. Finn, we have to work quickly to come up with something by tomorrow afternoon."

Not wanting to let them get away so quickly, Santana attempted to prolong the conversation with more questions. "You guys write original songs?"

"Why yes we do. It was only a matter of time before the usual myriad of show-tunes became too old hat for me. I needed songs that were befitting of Rachel Berry, and who better to write those songs than me, Rachel Berry! It's funny that this is being brought up now considering Finn and I were actually in the middle of a composition when Sue was killed. Not that I'm saying death is funny; it is the opposite of funny… How much wine have I had tonight?" Rachel stumbled away leaving a very surprised Santana alone with Finn.

"For once she's giving me too much credit. I'm barely involved in her songwriting. Usually she just stands there trying out different words and melodies, and asking me what I think of them. If you can keep a secret, I'm pretty sure I was asleep for most of our composing the other day."

"Really, you can sleep through that?" Santana regretted sounding unnecessarily bitchy. "I mean does that happen a lot."

"Well, performing and being an all around awesome guy take a lot out of me. I don't think Rachel notices though; I'm pretty sure I can do it with my eyes open. If she had noticed she would have said something. Wouldn't she? Unless she did notice and is planning on using it against me in the future. I have no real way of knowing what she's doing when I'm asleep, she could have left the room for all I know. Anyways it was fun talking to you Santana, I'm going to go find Rachel."

Now Santana realized why these two were a couple. They were both insanely arrogant, with an emphasis on the insane. Santana did learn an important piece of information though. Finn was Rachel's alibi, but if he was asleep, then she could have killed Sue without him knowing. Rachel's comments at dinner could play into this theory. Disgruntled diva kills her boss and uses the publicity and inheritance to break out solo. Or was that too cliché?

Santana then cornered Mike. Choosing not bring up Tina, she instead asked him about his plans for the future. He replied, "I think a lot of us don't really know what we are going to do with ourselves now that Sue is gone. Some of us were talking this morning about Sue's fortune. I don't see why she wouldn't divide it up equally between us. Even a small share would enough for me to open up my own dancing school. That's an idea I had a while back, but now I don't know. I heard you and Brittany were going to try to move to New York, right?"

"That was then plan yes, but that is being delayed slightly under the current situation."

"I'm sure Brittany will get a share, and that will help you whenever you guys do leave. I understand about the delay though. Sometimes unexpected events make you reevaluate the world around you."

"A death like this one is certainly unexpected."

"Yeah, to think I was in the gym working out when three floors up, Sue was dying."

"We you alone in the gym?"

"What? No … I was with Tina. She was there the entire time."

"Really? She doesn't seem like the gym type."

"There's nothing weird about that. She wanted to try something new. Hahaha."

Mike seemed suspiciously off-put by Santana's questions, so instead of creating suspicion of her true intent, she tried to make her way back over to Brittany. She would eventually have to talk to Tina though, that much was certain.

"How are things over here by the piano? Having fun?"

"You know it!" Kurt, Mercedes, and Brittany replied in comic unison.

"Well that's good. I think I scared of Mike. I kind of made him think about his whereabouts when Sue died. It was definitely a mood-killer." Santana had always been the master of bringing of topics of conversation by saying how much she didn't want to talk about them. Reverse psychology was easy. Thankfully, Kurt and Mercedes played right into it.

"Well I don't blame him, it's hard to think about that sometimes," began Kurt. "I sometimes feel guilty about how during the event in question Mercedes and I were gossiping with chef staff instead of being in place where we could have prevented it."

"Yeah, here we are complaining, and it must feel ten times worse for you, Brittany. I mean, you weren't even here," spoke Mercedes. "Then you and Kurt had to find her like that. Must have been horrible."

Kurt spoke again, "you never did tell say where you were that day, Brittany. And what was the news you were going to tell her when you got back?"

Santana wanted to put a stop to this. She was the one solving this murder, not them. She wasn't going to let anybody imply anything horrible about Brittany.

Fortunately for her, everyone's attentions were shifted to the individual who had just entered the parlor. It was a woman. She was blonde like Brittany, but she seemed to have Santana's attitude. She looked like she carried with her secrets, sadness, or both. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" She had a soft, calm voice, the kind that should be doing books-on-tape. "I just was wondering if there was any food left over from dinner. I kind of regret skipping before."

"Sure Quinn, Mercedes and I will find you something. Come with us." With that Kurt guided Quinn out of the room, followed closely by Mercedes.

Brittany and Santana were alone once again. But before Santana could inquire as to who this mysterious Quinn was, she felt her phone vibrate within her pocket. "It's probably Schue. I should tell him about everything I've learned. Why don't you go to bed, I'll be up soon, okay?"

"Okay goodnight." Brittany left the parlor. Santana left too because she couldn't get a signal there.

"Santana, how are things with Brittany?"

"They're interesting, to day the least. The long version is that Brittany wants to use me to find out who killed Sue. The people here won't talk to the cops, but apparently they'll talk to me."

"That puts you into a very unique position. You should take advantage of it. Have you learned anything so far?"

"I haven't got a chance to talk to everybody, yet. I hope I can before the funeral tomorrow. I'll give you the full story then."

"Good luck and be careful, Santana."

After, Santana hung up she heard a noise coming from the hallway behind her. Going against everything lesson she ever learned watching slasher movies, she attempt to locate the source of the noise in the dark scary hallway. Luckily it was just Brittany's cat, Charity.

"Hello little girl. I almost forgot you were here. I hope you've been taking care of Brittany for me, but now I'm back and I can take over snuggle duties full time again." Santana cradled Charity in her arms and began to pet her. "You know, you the only person in this house I'm sure couldn't have killed Sue … because you don't have thumbs. Isn't that right? It sucks that one of Brittany's friends is a murderer. Whatever happened to robots from the future?"

Charity jumped from Santana's grasp and ran down the hall out of sight. "Man, you open up to someone and all they do is run away." Santana went off to look for Charity. What she found instead greatly surprised her. Charity was there, but in the arms of little girl.

"Hello. My name is Beth. Who are you?"

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**End of Chapter 4**

**A/N: I apologize for outrageous amount of infodump in this chapter, which made it longer than normal. Please review. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: I didn't realize how hard it would be to read AU after Episode 15 (let alone write it!), but thank you for sticking with me and my humble story. Just for you guys, I hid some Ep. 15 jokes in this chapter.

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**Chapter 5**

"Hello. My name is Beth. Who are you?" spoke the small dark-haired girl Santana had discovered clutching Brittany's cat.

"Well, my name is Santana. Can I ask what you're doing here?"

"I live here. I'm pretty sure you don't. So what are YOU doing here?"

"I am here because Brittany Pierce is the love of my love, and she asked me to be here. You know who Brittany is, right?"

"Duh, I'm a child, not a moron." This girl certainly had an attitude, but Santana liked her. "So that means, you're Santana _Lopez_."

"You know more than one Santana?" she asked incredulously. "Never mind that. As long as we are sharing last names, how about you finish introducing yourself? Ms. Beth …"

"…Corcoran."

"Nice to meet you, Beth Corcoran. Now why am I getting the third degree from a 5-year-old?"

"I'm Eight and a Half, thank you very much. And you can never be too careful when it comes to personal security. That's what Sue always taught us." Santana didn't want to speak ill of the recently deceased, but she worried privately about the influence Sue could have had on the development of this young girl.

Just then Mercedes walked down the hallway, and came up to Santana and her new acquaintance. "Beth dear, what are you doing out of bed?"

"I was only playing with Charity and saying hello to Santana."

"Yeah well it's way past your bedtime. Put down the cat and go to your room!"

Beth handed Charity off to Santana, and then wished her and Mercedes a good night. Later, Santana returned to her room to find a barely-awake Brittany. Brittany lifted her from the pillow and called out, "Santanaaaaaaa?"

"I didn't mean to wake you Britt-Britt, just lay back down and ignore me."

"It's okay, I'm awake," Brittany replied surprisingly perky. "Where were you? Were you on the phone the entire time?"

"I was meeting Beth, actually. You didn't mention that there were children running around this house."

"Not children, Santana, just child; Beth is an unusual case."

"What do you mean?"

"It has to do with her mother." Brittany prepared Santana for a long story as they cuddled up in bed. "Beth is here because of her mother, Shelby. Shelby and Sue were old frenemies in the High School Performance industry. They eventually grew to respect each other, and it was Shelby who encouraged Sue to start up this place. Shelby was the show's first headlining star, despite being a single mother. But about two years or so before I started working here, Shelby died." Brittany noticed a puzzled look on Santana's face and continued her story before Santana could ask an obvious question. "It was breast cancer, honey, not murder. Sue was given custody of Beth, but now that Sue's dead, none of us are really sure what will happen to her. It is just so complicated. We all love Beth like she were our own, and we care about what happens to her."

"It's nice to know you'd make a good mother." Brittany thanked Santana's kindness with a kiss.

The next morning, Santana and Brittany headed down to breakfast. For the first time, everyone was assembled in the same room in front of Santana. Santana Lopez was now sure she was in the same room as a murderer, but she was still so far from finding out which it was. She had some time before the memorial service to pester some more people for information.

The first in her sights was the mysterious Quinn. While Brittany was busy debating the merits of eggs versus Lucky Charms, Santana sat down next to Quinn and attempted small talk. "We didn't get a chance to speak last night. I'm Santana Lopez. Maybe Brittany's told you about me?"

"She certainly has. I'm Quinn Fabray." This girl was certainly guarded. She barely looked up from her plate when speaking that last sentence. "Brittany is very talented. We were lucky to find her."

Without giving warning or excusing herself, Quinn got up and walked away. Santana was confused, offended, and increasingly suspicious. There was a reason this girl didn't want to talk to Santana.

Next Santana moved over to Tina. "Good morning. You're Tina, right?"

"Y-yes. H-how are you this morning, Santana?"

"Oh, I am fine."

"Uh … Brittany's a wonderful dancer. I bet you're proud of her. We were lucky to have found her."

"That's what Quinn said."

Tina seemed shocked to learn this information. "You talked to Quinn? And she said that?"

"If you can even call what we did 'talking', then yes, those were her sentiments. Why is that shocking?"

Tina scanned the room and lowered her voice. She whispered, "Sue only brought on Brittany because Quinn got injured and she needed to fill out the choreography. But then Brittany became so popular with the crowds that Sue kept her even when Quinn was ready to come back. Quinn's been kind of cold and distant ever since. I think she is jealous." Santana was definitely going to keep an eye on Quinn.

Changing the subject, Santana asked Tina about Mike.

"Oh Mike is great. We are such good friends."

"Friends only? You'd make a better couple, girl."

"But I'm so 'Skull and Bones' and he's so 'ABS!' I can't see myself in his world."

"Mike told me he convinced you to work out with him in the gym."

"He did? O-of c-course he did, I forgot about that. Listen it was fun talking to you I should go get dressed. Bye, Santana." Santana was getting tired of people walking away from her.

That afternoon, they all gathered in the cemetery amongst other guests to officially say goodbye to Sue. After the ceremony concluded, Santana touched base with Will on everything she had learned in the previous day and a half.

"Do you have any suspects so far, Santana?" asked Will.

"Rachel & Finn, and Mike & Tina have shaky alibis, but I could be being over dramatic. My biggest 'suspect' I guess is Quinn. She is being very stand-offish toward me, and she has a good reason to be mad at Sue."

"Well, if what you heard about her from Tina is true, then why not just kill Brittany?"

"It always comes back to money. Sue had lots of it and the popular assumption was that it'd be divided amongst everyone equally."

"It's funny you should mention that. As soon as I got settled in town, I flashed my badge over at the city clerk's office. I was able to learn that apparently, they've located Sue's last will, and will send a lawyer over to the house later today. If I were you, I'd be around when that will reading happens."

Santana gave Will a hug and wished him luck as he did the same for her. She then wanted to locate Brittany to see how she was holding up. She found Brittany sitting in the grass with Beth. She looked so comfortable dealing with children, and it brought a smile to her face. She noticed however someone else watching the pair. It was Quinn. Quinn was watching them closely, but she was trying to make it seem like she wasn't. Who was this girl?

Will's inside information turned out to be correct. Just before dinner, a group of men in suits showed up and gathered everyone in the lounge for the reading of Sue's will.

"Thank you all for welcoming me into you home. My name is Mr. Evans; I was part of Sue Sylvester's legal team," spoke to shaggy-haired blonde man.

Santana turned to Brittany and whispered, "You've got to be kidding me. How old is he? He looks younger than us. What's the name of his law-firm, 'the Offices of Doogie & Howser'?"

"Shh" Brittany replied. "Be nice."

"The city clerk was able to locate the most up-to-date copy of Sue's will and I will henceforth read it for all of you:

_** From the desk of Sue Sylvester, the Great …**_

_ Dear gathered friends and minions,_

_ I, Sue Sylvester, have perished from this Earth. I ask that you not weep for me, but instead seek vengeance on those responsible: whether it was murder, disease, or criminal negligence. _

_ That being said, I was insanely rich. I expect all of your mouths are watering at the prospect of getting your hands on my riches. Well, back off! _

_ I, Sue Sylvester, hereby bequeath control of my entire fortune and empire to Brittany S. Pierce. She alone will decide what is to come; No questions, no exceptions_

... and that's all it says." Mr. Evans put down the document and silence filled the room.

Santana picked her jaw up off the floor and gauged the mood of the room. Brittany had retreated to the back of the sofa and had brought her knees up to her chin. Mercedes looked shocked. Kurt looked like a sad clown. Mike was deflated, and next to him Tina looked on the verge of tears. Quinn had blank expression. Beth, who wasn't even supposed to be in the room, hadn't taken her eyes off Brittany. Finn looked confused, and finally Rachel was furious.

She was the first to speak. "What! Mr. Evans, this has to be some kind of joke! Tell me this is a joke!"

"No joke, Ms. Berry, the will was quite clear."

Tina spoke through her tears, "But why her? She hasn't been here as long as the rest of us. She gets everything, and he get nothing!" She turned to Brittany. "Did you turn her against us? How could you Brittany?"

"I didn't do anything." Brittany was crying now too. "Why would I want this to happen?"

Santana could not take it anymore. She stood up and moved between Brittany and the rest of the assembled household. "I think everyone should calm down, and go back to their rooms."

"Santana's right." Quinn surprised everyone by speaking up. "We can't hold this against, Brittany." She then started ushering everyone out of the room. "Thank you for all you've done, Sam. I'll make sure Brittany calls you with any questions she has." With that the blonde lawyer left.

Rachel was refusing to leave though. She almost charged Brittany at one point before Santana stopped her. "I'd be careful Santana. I'd start wondering if my girlfriend was in to older ladies. Have fun!"

Finally, Santana was alone with Brittany in the lounge. Santana began to speak, "Brittany?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Brittany interrupted. "I just need to rest."

The two went back to their room together. Santana tucked Brittany into bed, but she made no attempts to sleep herself. She couldn't stop thinking amount her girlfriend's sudden windfall. Was she going to keep it all? What did this mean for their future? She had so many questions that she almost forgot she had a murder to solve.

About two hours later, Brittany had finally got to sleep. Santana was pacing around the room quietly thinking everything over when she noticed a slip of paper had been shoved under the door. She didn't know how long it had been there. She picked it up and read it carefully. It was one simple sentence:

_**Your Girlfriend is Lying to You.**_

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End of Chapter 5**

**A/N: The plot thickens. Mwahaha. **

**Point of note: Beth's true parentage might be known to you, but the characters in this story are at a different hierarchy of knowledge. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: I have sad news. My grandmother died mere hours after I last updated. Writing about a murder mystery seemed wrong, so that explains some of the lateness. A special thank you for the few of you who have been reviewing and favoriting this story; it's much appreciated. Please continue to do so, but go the extra mile and tell your friends!**

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**Chapter 6**

"_Your Girlfriend is Lying to You." _What could that possibly mean? What was it implying? Who was this from? Was it true?

Santana could not sleep after this. She couldn't even bring herself to get back into bed with Brittany. She just had to get away.

So she left. She didn't know where her feet were going to end up taking her, but she didn't care. She walked and walked for miles, constantly putting thoughts together in her head to try to make sense of the events of the last few days. Eventually she just couldn't take it any more, and she collapse down onto the street curb. The sun had just begun to rise.

She took a deep breath and attempt to calm down. She thought back to the mysterious note. She realized that she was still clutching it in her hands. It had been crumpled into a ball, but the words were still quite legible. The simplicity of the phrase was the think that caused her the most pain. Someone in that house had reach out to her, but had not wished their identity to be known for some reason. That person knew something that she did not. It wasn't like any other mystery though; this was something she didn't know because Brittany had lied about it.

But was it even true? Who is the liar really: Brittany or the author of this note? It could be the Sue's killer taunting her. This could be a cruel distraction: turn her against Brittany, put her on a wild goose chase, and then … she didn't know what came next, but it would certainly not be good.

There were too many variables, and too many things to keep track off. She could do it anymore. That's when the tears came. Santana sat on a street corner at dawn in an unfamiliar city and cried her eyes out. She felt pathetic.

It took her awhile to regain her composure, but when she finally did, she realized something important she had been forgetting. She didn't have to bare this burden alone. She got up on her feet, pulled out her phone and dialed the number of Will Schuester.

"Santana?" Will answered. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"We need to talk. Get your car. You're taking me to breakfast."

After relaying Schue her whereabouts, he did just as she commanded. When they had settled into a small breakfast diner nearby, Santana began her story. She told Will everything about the lawyer bringing the will to the house, and how Sue had left everything to Brittany. She recalled all the different reactions the others had to the news. And then she handed over the note and said how it had been left for her in the middle of the night, but she had no idea who had written it, or whether or not it was true.

"And that's why I was on that street corner crying. I can't handle it anymore, Schue. I am completely stuck. If I can't trust Brittany, the woman I love more than anything in the whole world, what is left of me?"

"I shouldn't have let you get involved in this. Santana, you are not a detective. You are a dancer who got in way over her head because she couldn't say no to a beautiful girl."

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?"

"My point is whoever wrote that note knows everything I just said. And whoever wrote that note was trying to make you lose your cool because they knew you would. But no matter what happened this morning, you are stronger than them."

"So I should just ignore the note then?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what the fuck am I supposed to do?"

"You need to start looking at the facts."

Santana was now quite pissed off. She didn't care that she was raising her voice because the diner was still mostly empty. She got up from her chair and thought about walking away. Instead she turned back to Schue. "You want facts. Here are the facts: a wealthy matriarch of a crazy surrogate family for misfit performers is dead. One of them killed her."

"Santana …"

But Santana ignore him, she wasn't finished. "So far I've encountered a self-centered diva and her idiot boyfriend. A shy girl and a shy boy who seem to be in love, but can't keep their stories straight. A gay guy who, if he isn't too busy crying, keeps trying to hug me. And rounding it out you got a sistah obsessed with tots, a bitch who won't talk to me, a creepy eight year old, and a cat."

"Santana …"

"Oh but that's not the best part! My sweet, adorable girlfriend is one of the people in this house. I had to be away from her for almost a whole year because I was making money for us to go away, but now we can't go away because I have to solve a murder. It turns out though that I didn't even have to spend all that time earning all that money because apparently my sweet, adorable girlfriend was so sweet and adorable that people give her their entire fortunes when they die! And she might even have a huge secret that she isn't telling me!"

"SANTANA! Calm down!" Santana was shaken from her angry ranting. She sat back down at the table. Will continued, "I understand that this is hard, but you're getting too emotionally invested in this. First, you need to stop thinking about this like Santana Lopez. If you can't be objective, you'll go insane. Next, you have to talk to Brittany."

"Well I will definitely have to talk to Britt. That isn't even a question. Whoever wrote that note wants me to stay away from Brittany, that's why they are trying to make me think she's lying about something."

Will looked away from Santana and sighed. He seemed to be having difficulty finding the proper way to say what he was thinking. "Santana … You have to consider the possibility that that note is real, that Brittany is lying to you."

"What?"

"What I mean to say is … Have you considered the possibility that Brittany may have killed Sue?"

"No fucking way."

"Santana you have to think objectively. Brittany being the sole recipient of Sue's fortune gives her motive. She could have found out what she had to gain and taken advantage."

"Brittany wasn't even in the house at the time; Kurt said so."

"Brittany being away when Sue died doesn't matter. All that matters is where she was when Sue's drink was first poisoned, and we have no way of knowing how long before Sue died that was."

"But why would Brittany ask me to solve Sue's murder, if she was the one who did it?"

"Santana don't you see. Before I brought it up, you weren't even considering her as a suspect. She could be taking advantage of your trust to get away with murder."

"Brittany is not a murderer! She is kind and caring. The maddest I have ever seen is when we accidently watched that television show about duck hunting."

"Santana, you told me that Brittany lied to a doctor in order to spend more time with you after having met you only ten minutes previous. Then, you said she deliberately botched an audition without telling you beforehand so the producers would give you a job rather than her. What does that tell you about what type of person she is?"

"That she loves me …"

"… and she'd go to any extreme to see that you and her would be together forever?"

"Not murder."

"Santana, what those things tell me about Brittany is that she acts unpredictably and irrationally. She acts without thinking, based on her emotions, not on her reasoning. And until you stop treating her based on your preconceived ideologies, you never be able to get the truth from her."

"Fuck this and Fuck you." She got up and stormed out of the diner. Her tears had returned, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of breaking her.

"Santana wait! I'm sorry." Will followed her out of the diner and shouted after her. "Regardless of whether or not what I said is true, you still have to talk to her. You can't let your emotions get in the way of the truth."

Santana didn't respond. She just kept walking, and she walked the long journey back to Sue's estate. Santana knew Will was right about one thing: Brittany needed to give her the whole truth.

Santana made it back to the house. She could sense that the mood of the house was distinctively different. It wasn't just typical mourning sadness. There was bitterness and anger. She knew that those knew feelings were directed at Brittany, and that is what made what she had to do very difficult.

Santana made her way back to their bedroom, where she had left Brittany the night before, hoping she was still there. As soon as she opened the door, she spotted Brittany and Brittany spotted her.

Brittany jumped up from her seat on the bed and moved quickly over to Santana. "Santana, where have you been? I woke up and you were gone. No one knew where you were. I was all alone and I was worried something bad had happened." She attempted to pull Santana into an embrace, but Santana recoil at the slightest touch and shoved her back.

"Brittany, I'm sorry, I am so sorry for leaving you this morning. But we have to talk seriously about a lot of things. You have to be completely honest with me." Santana couldn't even look Brittany in the eye.

"Santana, Honey, why are you being like this?"

"Don't call me 'Honey.'" She replied. She turned and looked into Brittany's beautiful eyes for the first time that day. Tearful brown met tearful blue and Santana concluded, "Until I get all the answers I need, I am not your girlfriend."

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**End of Chapter 6**

**A/N: Things are going to stay pretty angsty for a bit, then get fluffy for bit, then angsty for a bit more, and so on. Hopefully it'll be an emotionally charged roller-coaster, but don't stop reading, ****even if I kill more people****. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: Why so few reviews? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to write a story as long as there's one fan, but reviews assist in keeping me motivated. Remember, please don't stop reading no matter what.**

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**Chapter 7**

"Until I get all the answers I need, I am not your girlfriend."

Brittany didn't know how to respond to what Santana had just said. Instead of saying anything, she moved over to sit down on the bed. She fiddled with her hands as Santana paced back and forth in front of her. It was obvious to her that Santana was struggling to decide which of the answers Santana wanted to here from her first.

"Brittany," Santana began to speak, but broke off and went back to pacing.

"Santana, what is this about?" Brittany hated seeing Santana is such distress. If Santana had not already banned it, she would have tried to hold Santana in her arms to ease her suffering.

Santana finally stopped pacing, turned to Brittany, took a deep breath, and asked her first question. "Brittany, why are we here?"

"Are you asking me the meaning of life Santana?" Brittany responded coyly.

"No Britt, why are we HERE… in Sue's house? Why are we still here?"

"We're trying to figure out who killed Sue."

"I'm sorry Britt, baby, but you are wrong." Brittany was shocked and hurt. All she wanted was for Santana to stop, but she didn't. "I have been trying to figure out who killed Sue. There has been no WE at all involve in any this. I can't do this anymore."

"Fine, I'll be more helpful. Just tell me what to do and how to help, and I'll do it."

"Brittany you can't help me."

"Why not?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE A SUSPECT!" shouted Santana. She was surprised at how loud she had let herself get. This was definitely thanks to all the tension she had been building up over the last few days.

Brittany had begun to cry again. She stayed seated on the bed, and looked at Santana through tearful eyes and said, "Santana, what is going on? Where is this coming from? I don't know what you want from me."

"I want you to be honest with me." The next sentence was the hardest Santana ever had to ask Brittany, "Did you kill Sue?"

"No!"

"That's it?"

"What else do you want me to say? Of course I didn't kill Sue. Why would I ask you to do everything you've done for me since arriving here if I had been Sue's killer?"

Santana plopped down on the bed with Brittany, but still a considerable distance away. She held her head in her hands, "I don't know what to think anymore. Will told me I had to be objective. I couldn't let feelings … my feelings for you … influence my pursuit of the truth. And right now B, from and objective viewpoint, things look pretty bad."

Brittany got the feeling she knew what Santana was talking about now, "Because of the money?"

"Yes Brittany, the money." Santana looked into Brittany's eyes, but now Brittany was the one avoiding eye contact. "Last night you said you didn't want to talk about it. Well, now we have to talk about it. Did you know Sue was planning on leave all her money to you?"

"Sort of."

"What's that supposed to mean, Brittany? Just tell the truth."

"Okay, It was a few weeks ago. It was just after dinner and Sue asked to speak to me about something important ….

…

_"Brittany, I have many enemies."_

_ "Are you sure?"_

_ "Well, I'm assuming I do. I am quite wealthy, influential, and powerful. You can never be too careful." _

_ "Am I one of your enemies?" Brittany asked Sue. "Is that why you asked me here?"_

_ "Of course not Brittany. I'm getting to why you're here. Come sit by me, and stop looking so nervous." Brittany did as Sue asked of her. Well, she tried her best to work on the nervous thing. "Brittany, how long have we known each other?"_

_ "Almost 9 years, I think, since you pick me to be a Cheerio." Brittany would never forget how beneficial that was to her development. _

_ "Your absolutely right. You know, you're the newest person in the cast, and normally I would mandate all the necessary hazings for newbies, but you are different because of our past together."_

_ "Where is this going? I don't understand."_

_ "Let me be frank then," Sue began._

_ "Can still be Brittany?" muttered the young girl._

_ "I hate everyone here except you. They're weak, self-centered, sluggish, and so damn annoying. I really have been growing weary of all of this since Shelby died. Her death exposed me to my own mortality, it made me reevaluate my existence and the mark I've left on this world. And despite all the trophies, endorsements, and book deals, my proudest achievement is you." _

_ "Sue, you're going to make me cry."_

_ "Don't or else I'll take back everything I just said." Sue grabbed Britany's face and stared deep into her eyes. "Brittany, if anything should happen to me, I'm counting on you to make an even bigger mark on the world. Just know you'll have more than enough of the resources of the late Sue Sylvester to help you."_

_ …_

"The day she died, it took me awhile to remember what she had said, but once I did I felt awful."

"Its just money, Britt-Britt."

"No Santana, when I remembered what Sue said, for a brief second I thought about what it meant for you, me, our future together. In that one brief second I felt … relieved." Brittany broke down in Santana's arms. "I'm a horrible person."

"You're not, don't ever think you are." Santana tried her best at comfort, "Sue trusted you because you are a good person. With the amount of love you give to the world around you, I think you can afford to think about yourself for one second."

"You're probably right, but I still feel awful."

All Santana want to do was stay in this position holding Brittany forever, but she still had more questions to ask. So she got up from the bed and began, "Now that we're being honest with each other, I should tell you why I had to bring this up. Last night someone left a note under the door to this room. It said you were lying to me."

"Can I see it?"

"I don't have it anymore, I gave it to Schue."

"So you believed it? That's what this is about."

"I'm sorry babe, things have been so screwed up lately, and I didn't know what to believe. The important thing is that someone in this house either thinks that you have something worth hiding, or is trying to frame you for the murder."

"Frame me? What? I'm think that I'm smart enough to know that money is usually a huge part of a lot of murders, but I couldn't have killed Sue. I wasn't even here!" Brittany was indignant, but sincere, if anyone needed any more proof that Brittany wasn't Sue's killer, this was it.

A thought still lingered in Santana's mind; "Brittany, where were you that morning?"

Brittany's face fell, she suddenly was back to being scared and confused. "That's not important. All that matters is I wasn't here."

"Brittany, don't do this. Did you suddenly forget the last ten minutes? We have to be completely honest with each other. Where were you?"

Brittany got up from the bed and walked to the other side of the room away from Santana. "I was out."

Santana followed and raising her voice she pressed on, "Out where? What were you doing?"

Brittany wouldn't look at Santana, "Shopping."

Santana grabbed Brittany and turned her around to look her face-to-face, "Shopping for what! Which store!" Santana pleaded for more information, she tried to reason with Brittany further "We can talk to the employees, and get witnesses to your alibi! We can be done with this! What were you shopping for when the morning Sue was poisoned?"

Brittany reached into her pocket and retrieved a small object. She forced that object into Santana's hands. "I was buying you this."

Santana looked down at what was in her hands. It was a ring, a diamond ring. Santana was at a loss for words. She managed to force out, "Brittany?"

"It's an engagement ring, Santana. The morning Sue was murdered, I was buying you an engagement ring." Santana couldn't believe it. She started to cry.

"You never said anything. Even before I arrived, we never talked about this, and after…"

"After you got back what was I supposed to say, 'Hey Santana, welcome back, Sue's dead, and oh by the way, please be mine forever' and people say I'm the clueless one." Brittany made Santana started laughing through her tears. "I'm sorry that me keeping this a secret made you think I might be a murderer. That was definitely not want I wanted."

Santana couldn't take it anymore, and she kissed Brittany. She tried to put as much of her passion and feelings into the kiss as she could. This was exactly what both of them needed. It felt like they hadn't kissed with this many feelings in months. Kissing Brittany made all the stress and anxiety she had been feeling these last few days slowly melt away until all that was left was her love for this woman.

They once again ended up on the bed holding each other. Santana turned to Brittany and asked, "So can I put it on?"

"Santana, I don't keep a strap-on in the house." Brittany replied in such a way that made Santana unsure of whether or not Brittany was serious.

Regardless, Santana laughed out loud. "The ring Britt; can I put on the ring?"

"Technically you haven't said yes, yet."

"Well technically you haven't even asked me, yet."

"Why don't you just put the ring on so we can skip to the end? More talk means fewer Sweet Lady Kisses."

Later that night, after sufficiently celebrating with her fiancé (a word she would definitely get used to saying), the reality of the situation returned to Santana's thoughts. Santana looked over at Brittany and she could tell the blonde's thoughts were the same as hers.

"What happens now Santana?"

"Brittany, I made a promise to you. I said I would figure out who killed Sue, and that's what I'm going to do."

"You're not going to do it alone. I'm going to help. I won't let you go through what you went through this morning ever again. We're a team now." Santana could not love this woman any more than she did right now. "When Brittany Pierce puts a ring on it, you can be sure that she's serious, honey."

Santana and Brittany realized that with all the stressful investigating and the surprise engagement that they were quite hungry. They reluctantly left the confines of their bed and began assembling clothes to wear.

While Santana was still getting dressed, Brittany now fully clothed turned to her and said, "Hey, while you're finishing up, I'm gonna go across the hall and give Beth the good news. She's been my little helper while you've been away, and she'll be glad to know I finally gave you the ring."

"Okay, don't be long."

The next thing Santana knew, she heard a loud crash followed almost immediately by a horrible scream. It was the worst thing she had ever heard because there was no doubt that the source of the scream was Brittany, her fiancé.

Santana vaulted from the bed and rushed out the door. The first thing she noticed was the blood on the hallway floor.

* * *

**End of Chapter 7**

**A/N: I guess this was one of those post-then-hide chapters. Don't say I didn't warn you. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: Sandwiching an update in between two major assignments. Brittana is easier to write about than Soviet Cinema.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

_Brittany Pierce had difficulty accepting the concept of death as child. When she was in the first grade she had three goldfish name Goldy, Fishy, and Ed, and within two weeks they were all floating upside down in their fishbowl. Her parents flushed them down the toilet and told her that the fish were fine, and that's how fish swim when they got homesick. When Brittany was in the fourth grade, she begged her parents for a dog. She had the puppy for three months before she decided, against the warnings of her parents, to bring the animal with her to dance camp. Upon inspecting her suitcase the morning of her departure, her parents were shocked to find the carcass of the suffocated animal. That's when they decided that this was one of life's lessons that they couldn't avoid teaching her any longer. _

_ By Brittany's Freshman year of college she understood perfectly what death was, but those pet deaths were not adequate preparation for what she was forced to deal with. On a quiet night in March, she received a phone-call from a man she had never met before. This man told her that her parents had been involve in a fatal traffic collision. And after clarifying for her the meaning of the word "fatal" Brittany collapsed to the ground in tears. She didn't know how long she stayed like that before Santana entered her room. Brittany was supposed to meet Santana in the dining hall over an hour previous, so Santana had come looking for her. After being taken into Santana's arms, Brittany explained what the man on the phone had said. Santana told her that night that even though death was unavoidable; it still really sucks when it happens to those you love. The best way to get through it is to be with the people you love that are still alive. Brittany kissed Santana for the first time that night because it was clear to her that she would love Santana until the day she died…_

…

"BRITTANY!" shouted Santana.

Brittany snapped out of her reverie and replied, "I think my life just flashed before my eyes. It was weird."

"MY GOD BRITT, YOU'RE COVERED IN BLOOD!"

Brittany looked down. She was in fact covered in blood. This confused her for moment. Then she remembered what just happened, what she had just witnessed. "This isn't my blood Santana …"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"

"STOP YELLING AT ME!"

Santana stopped and looked around. There was blood everywhere, but Brittany was right, none of it was hers. All of the blood had come from one place, and that place was right below the door to Beth's room. It looked as if a marble statuette the size of a shoebox had fallen from a position above the door and crushed Brittany's cat, Charity. Santana felt like throwing up. "Britt, babe, you scared the shit out of me! Why did you scream so loud?"

"Santana, I just watched my cat explode."

There were noises from down the other end of the hallway. Quinn ran down to where Santana and Brittany were standing. Rachel and Kurt followed her quickly. They all saw what was before them. Rachel inquired, "What is all this?"

Brittany replied, "I was just going to pop over to Beth's room to talk to her, but I got distracted by Charity for a moment. Then I thought, 'Beth loves Charity too,' so I remembered why I was in the hallway in the first place. Then when I pushed in the door to Beth's room, I saw the statue thingy start fall. I jumped back out of harm's way, but my poor cat …"

"Bless your dancer agility!" chimed Kurt.

Rachel was perplexed. "I still don't get it."

"I think I basically can work out what happened," began Santana. "You know when you were a kid, and you propped a bucket of water in the door frame, so that the nest person to go through the door would have the bucket fall on them, and they'd get all wet?"

"I had that done TO me."

"Well, Charity was even unluckier."

Rachel was turning an odd shade of green. "That is messed up."

Quinn, who had been oddly silent, spoke up, "Where is Beth? I mean this is her room."

Everyone looked around perplexed. Beth's room was definitely empty.

"What are you guys standing around for?" It was Beth, from the other end of the hallway. "Gross. Is that Charity?"

Quinn grabbed Beth's tiny frame and looked her in the eyes, "Where were you? Why weren't you in you room?"

"It's only Eight Thirty. I was bored," replied the eight-year-old. She looked around some more, "Hey, Santana is wearing the ring. So you finally asked her then?"

It all the commotion, no one else had noticed the engagement ring on Santana's finger. Quinn, sporting an odd smirk, turned to Kurt and said, "Looks like you finally have a wedding to plan."

Rachel spoke up, "This is all quite nice, but perhaps we should retire to the parlor to discuss this further, so that one of the cleaning staff can come up here and clean up this mess…"

Brittany glared at her. "I mean uhh … give Charity all the proper funeral arrangements."

Early next morning, Santana dug and hole under the large maple tree on the estate. Brittany placed a box full of Charity's remains into the new tomb, and then the two said their goodbyes, and filled the hole in. Afterwards, they sat together under the tree. Santana spoke up, "I'm sorry you had to attend another funeral so soon."

"She was a good cat." Brittany replied. "San, do you think Sue's killer murdered Charity?"

"It definitely wasn't an accident, Britt-Britt."

"How could Charity be a threat to them? She's just a poor cat. Unless what they say about curiosity is true? San, why did you but me such a curious cat?"

"Britt, I don't think that Charity was the intended target. I think you were."

"Oh. That sucks."

"Which means, I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again."

"Deal." They sat like that for a few more minutes in silence until Brittany thought of something. "Santana, how would the killer know I would go into Beth's room? I mean if it was her room, wouldn't she be the logical target?"

Santana felt like a complete fool. "Brittany, remind me to never ever solve another murder without your help. Okay?"

The pair decided that it would be in their best interest to find Beth immediately to make sure she was okay. On there way back to the house, they began discussing suspects. Santana had made her mind up though. "It's Quinn."

"What?"

"Come on B, it makes sense. You took her spot in the show and were a better performer than her. So she's pissed at Sue, and then Sue gives you all the money on top of that. She killed Sue and now she's targeting you."

"What makes her different than everyone else in this house?"

"Well, she's mysterious as fuck and she keeps giving me weird looks."

"Doesn't explain Beth, though."

"Who cares about that? Quinn is hiding something. I'm sure of it."

The pair was able to locate Beth creeping around the pantry. They asked Mercedes and Kurt to look after her for a little while.

"Oh that's fine girlfriend. The three of us are tight. We'll keep an eye on the little troublemaker."

"I never needed a babysitter before."

"Well little girl, things are different now," started Kurt, "now we have a scary murderer on the loose."

"Kurt!" replied the three women in unison.

"What like she doesn't know already? This girl is smarter than you realize. Two weeks ago she beat me at Scategories."

Santana would have loved to continue this conversation, but all she cared about at this point was finding Quinn. "Whatever! Just watch her. She might be in danger."

"Fine we can have a tea party."

"I don't drink tea."

"A Cocoa party then," solved Mercedes.

Brittany and Santana left the three in the kitchen. They were able to find Quinn in the library. They entered the large room quickly. Before Quinn was able to get a word in, Brittany and Santana had set their plan in motion.

"Sit down, bitch." Santana said bluntly as Brittany closed and blocked the doorway. "You are gonna sit down and answer every last one of our questions. 'Cause Brittz and I needz to find out who's been murderin' people up in here."

"I love it when you use your ghetto voice," remarked the smiling Brittany.

"Brittany! Stoic!"

"Sorry."

"Now Quinnie, why did you kill Sue?"

"I didn't."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"Because you're insane."

"Oh, I'm just sane enough to notice all the little things. It took me awhile but I finally started paying attention. You definitely have something to hide. You see, I saw all the secret glances you've been giving; to Brittany, to me. You have every reason to hate her. She replaced you; she was better in every way."

"That's not true."

"You don't think Brittany was better than you. That's a little arrogant."

"I mean, I don't hate Brittany. She was a great asset to the show. When I got healthy, I was proud to perform alongside her."

"Then Brittany gets all the money and power. You must have hated her for that. So you try to get me to doubt her. You plant a note; tell me she's lying to me. It almost worked too, but our love is stronger than that."

"That's great, but I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You finally snap for the second time and you set a trap to kill Brittany. If my memory serves me correctly you were the first to respond to the noises. Couldn't stay far away could you? You had to make sure that you're plan worked."

"I was reading in my room, everyone else was downstairs."

"Who knows? Maybe you never meant to kill Brittany. Brittany pointed out that it would make more sense if you were trying to kill Beth. It was her room after all. What could an eight year old have possibly done to warrant your wrath? Was she close to figuring you out? Was that why you tried to kill that poor girl?"

Quinn leapt from the couch and slapped Santana hard across the face. Brittany ran from her position by the door to get in between them. Quinn shouted at Santana, "HOW DARE YOU! How dare you accuse me of that? I would never hurt Beth. I WOULD NEVER HURT MY OWN DAUGHTER!"

Santana and Brittany stopped immediately what they were doing. Quinn fell back on to the couch and looked as though she were on the verge of tears. Brittany sat down next to her and asked, "Beth is your daughter? What about Shelby?"

"Adoption. When I was in high school, I made a drunken mistake. When I found out I was pregnant, I felt like my life was over. I couldn't keep her. So I gave her away. I gave her to Shelby. I never expected to see her or Beth ever again. Then I read in the newspaper that Shelby had died. I had no idea why, but I came here to Sue's house almost immediately. I just wanted to see that my baby was okay. Sue thought I was here to audition for the show, and I didn't correct her. I thought that if I could stay and be a part of Sue's family with Beth, I could always ensure that she was okay. But then, Sue found out. She was furious for my lying to her, but she understood. Brittany, when she hired you, it wasn't because I was injured, it was because I was too ashamed of what I had done to perform. So you see, I don't care about money or power or fame. All I care about is her."

Santana was speechless. This was one of those moments that she wished she could become invisible or turn back time. Brittany gave Quinn a much-needed hug, "Quinn we're so sorry. We had no idea."

Santana was about to apologize as well, but she was interrupted by Tina bursting through the library door. "Guys, find help! In the pantry, there's been another murder!"

Quinn turned to Santana and with a look of pure anger said, "I told you it wasn't me … Bitch.

* * *

**End of Chapter 8**

**A/N: School is making updating difficult, but I shall do my best. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: I don't know.**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

_ "Whatever! Just watch her. She might be in danger." Santana demanded._

_ "Fine we can have a tea party," said Kurt._

_ "I don't drink tea," Beth complained_

_ "A Cocoa party then," solved Mercedes._

_ Mercedes, Kurt, and Beth moved from there position in the hallway to the pantry, and took seats around the small table inside the room. Things felt tense. The eight year old was still visibly upset with this forced babysitting she had to endure. _

_ "I'm still going to drink tea, if that's alright with you girls," said Kurt breaking the silence. _

_ "Fine. More cocoa for me and Beth then." Mercedes began searching the cupboards for the necessary ingredients. _

_ "I think I saw a big pot of leftover cocoa in the fridge." Beth perked up. "No use making a new batch, just heat the old one back up." Mercedes thanked Beth for the suggestion. A little while later, as Mercedes and Kurt were perched over the stove making their warm beverages, Beth started asking questions. "So what's going to happen to me?"_

_ "What do you mean sweetie?"_

_ "I know how things work. When my mom died, they made Aunt Sue my guardian. And since I don't seem to have a father: that leaves me with nobody right now. So what's gonna happen to me?"_

_ "I told you she was smarter than everyone realized," Kurt taunted._

_ Mercedes poured out the cocoa for Beth and began to wash out the pot. She thought over her response to Beth's question carefully. "Beth, I don't know what the lawyers will do with you, but since Sue left Brittany all her money, then my guess is that the decision is hers."_

_ "Aunt Sue and I once talked about sending me away to boarding school. I found a great one on the Internet specializing in performance arts. I really want to go."_

_ "Don't get your hopes up, you don't know what will happen."_

_ Beth vaulted from her chair and headed for the door. "Too late for that. I'm gonna go and print out all the information for Brittany to look at!"_

_ "What about your cocoa?"_

_ "You drink it!" she said, and she was gone. _

_ Mercedes turned to Kurt. Kurt had a skeptical look on his face. "You do realize we were supposed to be watching her right?"_

_ "Brittany and Santana were probably just overreacting. Nothing's gonna happen to her." Mercedes picked up Beth's vacated mug of cocoa. "Here, you wanna drink this?"_

_ "You always are trying to force chocolate upon me."_

_ "Shut up and drink the damn cocoa."_

_ Kurt chugged the cocoa in one gulp. "You know this wasn't half bad." Kurt stood from his chair, but tumbled to the ground upon taking a few steps. He started to cough profusely. Mercedes went to his aide, but it was already too late…_

…

"He died in my arms." Mercedes spoke through her tears. "He was my best friend. Now he's gone."

Will Schuester had tagged along with the police when they came to the mansion to deal with Kurt's body. He decided to give Santana a break from all the investigating, so he offered to find out as much as he could from Mercedes. "We'll send samples of the cocoa to the lab, but its pretty obvious that the cocoa was poisoned. Now you didn't drink any, correct?"

"I poured myself some, but I decided to do the dishes before I drank any."

"The lab will test your glass as well, you might narrowly have missed death yourself."

"Kurt wasn't going to drink any, but I made him. This is my fault."

"Ms. Jones, you can't blame yourself."

Will left Mercedes in the care of the police present, and then went off to find Santana. He found her with Brittany sitting outside in the garden. "Santana, can I speak to you alone, now?"

"Anything you want to talk to me about, you can say in front of Brittany. We're not keeping secrets anymore." She held onto Brittany's hand and squeezed. She was not planning on letting go.

"Well, I'm thankful for that. I should apologize to you Santana, and I guess to you Brittany as well, I should never have let things get this far, and I should never had implied that you might be a murderer."

"Apology accepted," replied Brittany, and then she added, "I guess it was because of you that I was forced to give Santana the engagement ring I bought for her." She then pulled on Santana's left hand and forced it into Will's sight.

"Congratulations. I am happy for you two."

Santana spoke up again, "I'd be happier if people didn't keep dying." She didn't want to cease the happy moments, but the incident with Quinn had left Santana increasingly frustrated. "How's Mercedes?"

"She's pretty shaken up, but really, she should be glad that she's alive. From what she said, we were close to having three dead bodies instead of just one."

"Three?" Brittany said perplexed. "Oh my God! Beth!"

"Beth is fine. One of the police officers found her alone in her room on her computer," answered Will.

Something clicked in Santana's mind. "That's twice now, Beth has escaped death." Will looked confused, so Santana filled him in. "Last night, someone sabotaged the door to Beth's room and ended up killing Brittany's cat, and almost killing Brittany. This can't be a coincidence."

"Santana, it's an interesting theory, but that's all it is: a theory. You need to stop focusing so much on trying to figure out what this killer is going to do next, and start figuring out who this killer is. Who are the remaining suspects?"

"Well, Mercedes would never have killed Kurt. Quinn was with the two of us. So that leaves Mike, Tina, Finn, or Rachel. Finn was with Rachel when Sue was killed, and Mike was with Tina. No … wait … I'm not sure of that last part. Tina was completely shocked when I brought up what Mike said about their whereabouts that day. She could be the murderer, and Mike could be covering for her because he loves her."

Santana finished working through her new theory, but upon looking to Brittany she was met with a shaking blonde head. "Santana that's silly. Tina isn't a murderer. Tina's pregnant."

Brittany stated this matter-of-factly. Santana was clearly dumbfounded so Brittany continued her explanation. "This morning, I got a phone call from the hospital about insurance or something because I'm now in control of Sue's fortune, but anyway they told me I had to sign some kind of form or else the payment Tina's sonogram couldn't be processed correctly. So then I thought, 'Pause, when did Tina have a sonogram?' and they said it was the same morning Sue died. Her and Mike must have been trying to hide it from everyone. I probably should have said something sooner, huh?"

Santana took a deep breath. Things had gotten so crazy; she couldn't handle everything all at once. "It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Girls, I'm going to keep an eye on the lab results from Kurt and the poison. Is it alright if I leave you?" asked a concern Will.

"Go ahead. We have plenty to do anyway." She turned to Brittany who nodded in response. "We have to find Finn and Rachel."

They bid farewell to Will. Then they reentered the house together. They searched several rooms unsuccessfully. When they came to the library, they found Quinn instead. Brittany noticed that she appeared to be crying. She went over to Quinn. "Quinn, can I talk to you?"

Quinn put down a book she had been holding in her hands, and met Brittany's gaze. "Yeah go ahead."

"Brittany, what about Finchel?" said a visibly frustrated Santana.

Brittany answered her, "They can wait. I need to talk to Quinn right now." She turned back to Quinn and began, "About Beth … I've been thinking about what's going to happen to her now that Sue's gone. I know what its like to lose parents, I think that's why Beth and I got along so much. She felt that I could understand her. Not only has Beth lost the only mother she's known, but now she's lost the woman who helped her get through that. So I have decided that, if it really is my decision what happens to her, you should have her. Even if she doesn't know it, you ARE her mother. She's going to need you."

"Brittany, I don't know. It's too late."

"It wasn't a question. She's your daughter. Go be with her."

Quinn stood up from the couch. Brittany did as well. Quinn said to her, "I never hated you, you know. I just occasionally got jealous that you her so close to her. I just needed you to know that." Quinn then moved across the room to Santana. Things were still tense between them, but Quinn was rather cordial now, "I hope you find what you are looking for." She then headed for the door.

Brittany called out to her, "Where are you going?"

"I'm taking my daughter for a drive. She could use some ice cream." With that she was gone.

Santana moved to Brittany and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Sometimes I think you're too good for me."

Just then Finn and Rachel stormed into the library. Well, Rachel did most of the storming; Finn was just trying to keep up. "There you two are. We've been looking for you," said Rachel.

"YOU have been looking for US?" replied Santana, who had quickly reverted to bitch-mode.

"Yes, Finn and I are leaving. We thought you oughta know."

Brittany spoke up confused, "But you can't do that."

"Brittany, I have only recently accepted the idea that Sue would entrust her entire fortune to you. However, you must know that it does not give you the power to control my choice of habitation. I've been in touch with lawyers, and they have given me assurance that neither you nor the city police can force Finn or myself to stay in this house. Kurt's regrettable demise has only added to my desire to leave this place that has become a threat to my very life," said the miniature-sized brunette in a loud huff.

"Rachel, calm down," spoke her tall companion. "You don't have to be mean to them. Anyway, girls, she's right though, we are leaving; not the city, just this house."

"I still have a lot of questions for you two," Santana demanded.

"Oh don't think you're still fooling everybody with your unbiased observer charade. I saw the way you interacted with that detective who was here. You're just a little spy, and you've been using Brittany as in way to get to all of us!"

"You wanna throw down, you little bitch?" and then Santana begun to charge Rachel before being held back by Brittany.

Rachel was quickly ushered outside the room by Finn. He closed the door leaving her fuming in the hallway. He turned back to Brittany and Santana and attempted to smooth things over, "Listen, if you really have questions for me and Rachel, you can't ask them later. I can give you the address and phone number of where we're going to be staying. Do you have a pen and paper?"

Brittany produced the items. Finn wrote down the contact information and handed them back to Brittany before departing.

Santana took the slip of paper. As she held it in her hands, she remembered something important. This paper was blue with red lines. It was unusual, but it was not unique. She had seen it before. The note she received under her door that one night had been the same kind! She quickly turned to Brittany, "Where did you get this paper?"

Brittany was confused, but she answered nonetheless, "I tore it out of the back of this book that was sitting on the couch." She handed it to Santana. "Why does it matter?"

"Whoever sent me that note about you, also got their paper from this book." She looked at the book quizzically in her hands and asked Brittany: "Who does this book belong to?"

Brittany bit her lip. She knew what conclusion the answer would lead Santana to. She really didn't want it to be true. "That's Beth's diary. I gave it to her for her birthday."

Santana flipped through the pages until she came across a date from early last week:

_Dear Diary, _

_Today, I decided to kill Aunt Sue …_

* * *

**End of Chapter 9.**

**A/N: There will be one more chapter and an epilogue. The truth will be revealed. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/n: I honestly don't know how long it has been since I updated last. I've had final papers and exams to worry about, plus my laptop broke for a week and I couldn't write. Also, about Brittany's cat's name. I liked Charity, but that might have been retconned to Lord Tubbington ;( or if you want you can choose to believe that Brittany goes through cats like runners go through shoes and Charity is dead in canon too.**

* * *

** Chapter 10**

"_Dear Diary,_

_ I don't know why humans choose to personify pages in a book as if it were able to understand the words written inside it. Brittany told me it helps with stress and loneliness. Maybe she's right. _

_ In that case I'll give it a shot. Hello, Diary, my name is Beth Corcoran, and right now, I am trapped. I don't belong here. I am a prisoner. I have to get out. _

_ Let me explain. Two years ago my mother died. She was such a good person. She didn't deserve to get cancer. Such a horrible thing should only happen to bad people; bad people like Aunt Sue. Sue Sylvester doesn't deserve the things life has given her. Now that fate has given ME to her, my life is over. _

_ Aunt Sue is the reason my mother is dead. She paid her loads of money to be the star of the show, but never gave her time off to go to the doctor. She told her to fight through her 'imaginary pain' because doctors were for the weak. How dare she. _

_ I swear that one day I will make her pay, for what she's done."_

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary,_

_ I hate everyone in this house. No one understands, not even Brittany. She tries to reach out to me, but she fails. She tells me that she understands! Tells me her sob story about her parents and dead pets, and how she found her precious Santana. You'd think that this Santana was some type of superhero thanks to the amount that Brittany yaps and yaps about her. No one cares!_

_ Everyone else are just drones. Drones serving the queen, Sue Sylvester."_

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary, _

_ Sometimes I wish people would just ignore me. That would be a whole lot better than the way they treat me now. They think that just because I am a child that that means I am not capable of abstract thought. _

_ I am young. I am not stupid." _

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary, _

_ I want to get out of this house. Let me rephrase that. I NEED to get out of this house. I think I've found the perfect way. _

_ I was on the Internet chatting with some other girls. They were all students at a prestigious boarding school for young girls interested in the Arts. I would like nothing more than to honor my mother's memory by following in her path. I think I would fit in there perfectly. _

_ The only problem is that I am eight years old. I can't make these kinds of decisions for myself. I have to beg Sue. I would rather not do that. If you were more than just ink and paper, I'd ask you to wish me luck…"_

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary, _

_ Today, I decided to kill Aunt Sue. _

_ She told me I didn't have the poise or bone structure to enter the performing arts. She refused to let me leave. _

_ With her dead, I'll finally be able to get out. So, I am serious. I will kill her. They really put everything on the Internet nowadays. I found the perfect poison to mix in with Sue's drinks. She'd drink it and never know it was killing her. _

_ With Sue gone, no one will be able to prevent my plans. They'll give custody of me over to the state or maybe even somebody here, it doesn't matter. I'll be the perfect little angel. I'll put in the proper amount of mourning, shed my tears, play the uncertain child, and no one will know. I will be the ultimate manipulator. _

_ Eventually they'll ask me where I'd like to go. I'll bring up my desire to go to the boarding school. They'll all pity the poor little child …"_

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary, _

_ It is finished. I have done the crime. She is dead. I am so close to being free._

_ If any else stands in my way, I will kill them too." _

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary, _

_ The famous Santana arrived today. She's asking a lot of questions. But nevertheless, I like Santana. It's a shame she's rather stupid."_

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary,_

_ It seems Sue chose to give all her money to precious Brittany. This is an unexpected turn of events. I can still use this to my advantage, but it could take time. _

_ I need to take advantage of the bond Brittany thinks she and I have formed, but she's become to wrapped up in Santana to notice me anymore. It's probably guilt from having been buying her that ring when I was killing Sue. _

_ They need to be separated. Santana will be easy to manipulate. I will send her a note implicating Brittany in the crime. With Santana busy dealing with her anonymous tip. I will work my way back into Brittany's thoughts."_

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary,_

_ If my ears are as strong as I think they are, then I believe my plan to separate Brittana has failed. I'm not quite sure of what happened, but they sound like they are really enjoying themselves. Did they forget that other people live in this house?_

_ I need a new plan. If I can't escape with my words, I will escape horizontally. If I can set a trap to make it look like I am a target of the murderer. If I injure myself, there is no way the will make me stay here anymore. I have to work fast, but I need to hide you somewhere, Diary. I can't have them discovering my plans."_

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary, _

_ That damn cat! She really made things difficult for me. Not only did my trap spring to early, but now Brittany and Santana are inseparable and engaged! _

_ I need to think things over."_

_xxx_

"_Dear Diary, _

_ My trap idea was a good one, but it failed the first time because I was careless and didn't keep a close enough watch. Poison seemed to work for me last time; I don't know why I didn't just try what I already succeeded with. _

_ Second attempt was much more successful. It really is a shame about poor Kurt though." _

_xxx_

That was the final entry in the Diary. Quinn closed the cover on the book and sat in the library in silence. She only wanted to get to know her own daughter better. Reading someone else's diary seemed so juvenile, but temptation got the better of her. Quinn was shaken from her thoughts by Brittany and Santana entering the library. She wasn't paying close enough attention to what they were saying, but then it became obvious Brittany was talking about Beth so that made her want to pay attention.

"About Beth … I've been thinking about what's going to happen to her now that Sue's gone. I know what its like to lose parents, I think that's why Beth and I got along so much. She felt that I could understand her. Not only has Beth lost the only mother she's known, but now she's lost the woman who helped her get through that. So I have decided that, if it really is my decision what happens to her, you should have her. Even if she doesn't know it, you ARE her mother. She's going to need you."

Quinn tried to stay calm. They didn't know. They had no idea what Beth had become. All she wanted to do was tell them, but she could find the right words. She was only able to squeak out, "Brittany, I don't know. It's too late."

"It wasn't a question. She's your daughter. Go be with her."

Quinn stood up from the couch. She knew what she had to do. She needed to hear the truth from her daughter before she could let her be handed over to the police by these two. She turned to Brittany, "I never hated you, you know. I just occasionally got jealous that you her so close to her. I just needed you to know that." She then moved across the room to Santana. She wanted to give Santana some sort of clue to give her closure that she most certainly needed, "I hope you find what you are looking for." She noticed Beth's diary sitting back on the couch and realized that if they read it just as she had, then there would be no need for her to tell them. She figured it was a remnant of her maternal instincts, but she needed to get Beth to be somewhere away from them when they found out.

Brittany called out to her as she was walking away, "Where are you going?"

"I'm taking my daughter for a drive. She could use some ice cream."

…

Quinn sat with her daughter in the moving car trying to think of the right words to say. Without taking her eyes of the road, she spoke out "I know what you did. I know you killed Sue."

Beth's face did not change, did not show any signs of emotion at all, "I'm surprised you of all people figured it out. You didn't strike me as very observant."

"I know more things than you realize, Beth. But what I don't know is how you became this person … how you were able to take someone's life so easily."

"Sue deserved to die. She wouldn't let me leave. She called me fat. She killed my mother."

"I am your mother Beth."

"What?"

"I am your mother. 8 years ago, I didn't want to be a teen mom so I gave you away. I let Shelby make you her daughter. And when I was reading in your diary about all those horrible things you had done, all I could think about was how things could have been different if I hadn't done that."

"So what. You're gonna turn me over to Santana and Brittany? Let them lock me away? I have no regrets… anything to escape that life I was forced to live."

"Beth, I would like nothing more than to take this next exit and drive west. Drive far, far away from here, from our old lives. Find a small town in the middle of the desert, and live as mother and daughter in peace and never look back. I'd watch you grow up, watch you learn all about life, watch you find someone to love you, watch you maybe have a daughter of your own. Then you could sit her down years from now, after I am dead, and you could tell her everything about me and you, and how her life came so close to never happening." Quinn turned and looked her daughter in the eye. "But I am not going to do that." Quinn grabbed the wheel in her hands, and jerking it sideways, she drove the car of the side of the road and let it crash in the river below.

…

Santana and Brittany sat together outside and watched the sun set. Will came up to the pair and said hello. He then began his story, "The police finally found the wreckage of Quinn's car. With the currents being as strong as are, there's no way will be able to search for survivors or remains until they die down, but by then it could end up being dozens of miles."

Santana was the first of the girls to speak up, "I can't believe that this entire time it was her, just a little girl. She is … was eight years old. How did this happen?"

"That's something we may never know."

"Quinn knew." Brittany had spoken up. "I hadn't realized it at the time, but Quinn was reading Beth's diary when the two of us walked into the library. It's probably why …"

"Yeah." Santana concluded after Brittany's words drifted off. "What do you want to do now? You're still in charge of all Sue's fortune you know. We can stay here as long as you want."

"No. We've stayed here long enough. I promised you New York, and I am finally going to fulfill my promise to you. So let's get the hell out of here."

Santana cracked a smile and hugged Brittany as hard as she could. She was happy again.

* * *

**End of Chapter 10. End of Story.**

**A/N: So this is the end. Okay, this is AN end, but the end-end. There will be an epilogue to tie up some loose ends. If you have any lingering questions, ****don't be afraid to ask them****, because I'll answer them one way or another when I write that. **


	11. Epilogue

**Whodunit?**

**A Brittana Murder mystery. A death shakes the lives of Brittany and Santana. Inspired by Agatha Christie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. I do not own anything written by Agatha Christie (basic idea comes from **_**Crooked House**_**).**

**A/N: This is the Epilogue. It's pretty short. Thank you much to all who read, reviewed, and/or favorited.**

* * *

** Epilogue**

Brittany Lopez-Pierce walked through the door to her New York City apartment building. She happened to run into the mailman in the lobby, and it seemed her attention was once again in high demand as evidence by the vast assortment of letters given to her. She took the elevator up to her private penthouse, and she was greeted by an unusual sound.

"Brittany! Honey? Help!" Those were the only words she was able to discern through the whining and groaning.

"Yes, its me, I'm back. I'll be in there in a second." She walked into the bedroom to find Santana with a pouty face on.

"Are these socks the same color?"

"No. But on you still look awesome." She gave her a kiss and helped her into the living room. "Do you feel like eating?"

"Not really."

"Okay." Brittany went to grab a cup of coffee for herself. After she did that she began to sort through the accumulated mail. There were some catalogues, thank you notes from her favorite charities, Santana's hospital bills, but the thing the stood out to her vision was a letter from Mike. As chief financial benefactor to the Chang Squared Dance Academy, Brittany was supposed to be sent regular business progress reports, but in all honesty she enjoyed hearing more about Mike's family life. Mike & Tina first thanked Brittany and Santana for the generous gift they had sent for Mike Junior's third birthday. They said town had decided to name another building after Sue, this time a library.

Brittany smiled to herself and put the letter down to finish later. Santana called to her from across the room. "Okay, maybe I am a little hungry."

"How did I know you were gonna say that? So what DO you crave this morning… Mrs. Pierce?"

"Cereal and fruit is fine Britt. Not only would it taste delicious, I don't have to force you into figuring out a complicated recipe (even though I'd really enjoy watching you try)." She said as she waddled over to the kitchen table. She gave Brittany a thank you kiss, and carefully plopped into a chair. After struggling to find a comfortable position she spoke up, "Remind me again why I'm pregnant…"

Brittany laughed and responded, "You beat me at Rock, Paper, Scissors, remember? And I still dispute that by the way. There's no way a piece of paper defeats a rock. Covering it doesn't destroy it or emotionally damage it. I have real world data to support this."

"That's not what I meant…" Brittany's attention was already elsewhere though. She had already prepared Santana's breakfast and turned on the television.

"Hey sweetie look, Rachel's commercial is on!"

Santana rolled her eyes. She still could not figure out why Brittany enjoyed listening to the inane lyrics of "My Headband" that Rachel had sold to a girl's clothing chain. In some form of poetic irony, Rachel Berry and her loser husband still had the capability to annoy Santana despite being on the opposite coast of the country.

Brittany applauded the conclusion to the advertisement. Then she looked over at Santana and found a look on her face she didn't like. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No it's nothing. Forget it."

"San, I'm your wife, I know when something is wrong with you." Santana refused to look Brittany in the eye now. "Is this about what you asked before?" Santana reacted, but did not respond. "Do you regret deciding to get pregnant?"

"No Britt." Santana calmed Brittany's worries.

"Then what is it?" Brittany asked raising her voice.

"What if I'm a bad mother?" It was a simple question, that unbeknownst to Brittany, had been plaguing Santana for quite some time. Tears had begun to make their way down Santana's face.

Brittany held Santana close to her. She kissed Santana's tears away, and then put her hands lovingly on Santana's bulging stomach. "I love you. I love our future child. And I believe that you can do anything. Always remember that. Any worries you're having now are normal." Santana seemed unconvinced. "Do you want to know why you'd be the best mother ever?" Santana nodded her head against Brittany's embrace. "You are one of the smartest people I know. You have a surprising amount of love to give to the world. You are caring: you pretty much take care of me when I become a mess. And most of all, you never back down when a challenge faces you."

"But what if I make a mistake? What if screw up this kid's life and turn it into some horrible monster?"

Brittany knew then the real reason behind Santana's breakdown. "This is about Beth, isn't it?"

"Possibly." Santana admitted meekly.

"You need to move on. Beth was a troubled little girl who fell through the cracks. No one can know what would have happened to her if Shelby hadn't died, or if Quinn had never given her away to begin with. Our child is going to grow up in a home with two loving and attentive mothers."

Santana lifted her head to look Brittany in the eye. Then she placed her hands on Brittany's cheeks and brought their lips together. "How is it that you can always figure out what's wrong with me and make me feel better."

"I'm just amazing like that." Brittany replied smiling. "What made you think about this Santana?"

Santana paused trying to think of the right words. "I thought I saw them again."

Brittany was shocked but not enough to get angry with Santana; she was just frustrated that this had happened again. "Santana, honey, they're dead. You have to move on."

"But Brittany, they never found their bodies." Santana countered. "I was looking out the window this morning at the people walking by on the street below and I saw a little brown haired girl with her blonde mother. It's crazy of me to think that it could be Quinn and Beth, but I couldn't help it."

"Santana … it's okay."

"It's just that … the two of us have been surrounded by so much death. How can we ever be normal ever again?" asked Santana genuinely concerned.

"Some time ago a smart girl once told me that 'death is unavoidable and it still really sucks when it happens to those you love, but the best way to get through it is to be with the people you love.'" Santana recognized those words very well. She had said them to Brittany the night the girl's parents had died, the night they first kissed. "Right now Santana, as long as we love each other, and we love this baby, we can do anything."

Santana knew from that point that Brittany had made life that much easier to live for her. They sat together on the couch occasionally talking or singing for their future son or daughter, content to embrace the future together.

* * *

**End of Epilogue.**

**So that really is it this time. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. This was my first fic and I had a blast. I'm going to keep writing. I have plenty of new ideas that you might see here in the future: **

** ~a Heya fic about Naya waking up as Santana in the Glee Universe**

** ~a cute fluff piece about Brittany's cats**

** ~a Brittana Spy Adventure**

**If you enjoyed this story, I whole-heartedly recommend the complete works of Agatha Christie. **_**Crooked House**_**, which this story is based on, is still some of her best work and you'd enjoy it even if I have completely spoiled the ending for you already. **

**Thank You and Goodbye.**


End file.
